Marla Garrison
Marla Masters, later changed to Marla Garrison is an employee at Grumbel's. She was originally the assistant manager when the comic started http://retailcomic.com/comics/january-1-2006/, though was later promoted to the store manager when Stuart Suchet was promoted to district manager.http://retailcomic.com/comics/march-8-2012/ Marla is known to be a fair manager, treating her employees with as much respect as they deserve. She attempts to remain optimistic in lieu of the continuedhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/april-8-2006/ stressful http://retailcomic.com/comics/february-22-2009/, and often contradictoryhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/july-10-2012/ policies set by corporate. Marla has been known to avoid confrontationhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/may-29-2013/, even in cases of firing an employee known to be terrible at her job. She has also been known to bribe (though she calls it incentivizing) her employees to make goals for metrics.http://retailcomic.com/comics/august-24-2012/ A running arc with Marla is her rage against corporate culture, specifically that of Gadget Cityhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/may-14-2007/. This often results in arguments with Stuart, who is known to defend corporate decisions, even if they are made by other companieshttp://retailcomic.com/comics/february-4-2008/. She finds a slight joy in knowing Gadget City went out of businesshttp://retailcomic.com/comics/march-2-2009/. Marla writes a manifestohttp://retailcomic.com/comics/july-16-2006/, in which she writes her rage over the issues of her job. It's been mentioned to have reached 200 pageshttp://retailcomic.com/comics/february-6-2007/, though has likely reached more pages.http://retailcomic.com/comics/november-18-2007/. She has attempted to throw it away, though was dissuaded from doing so due to another pointless corporate policy.http://retailcomic.com/comics/february-21-2008/ She has expressed wishes to open her own store as earlier as 2006http://retailcomic.com/comics/march-7-2006/, though had never actually taken off. She planned on selling handbags, and naming her store "Clutch Cargo"http://retailcomic.com/comics/april-18-2011/. The store was mentioned recently as of 2014http://retailcomic.com/comics/august-19-2014/. Recently Marla has been having doubts about even opening the store at allhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/july-4-2015/. Relationships Marla has been known to get along with her employees fairly well, most often philosophizing with her coworker and friend, Val Williams.http://retailcomic.com/comics/march-30-2006/ Her relationship with Stuart Suchet is a typical manager-employee one. Whereas Marla is known to be realistic, her personality clashes with that of Stuart. That said, the two have a trusting working relationship, where Stuart respects Marla enough to not get mad over insults.http://retailcomic.com/comics/december-18-2009/ She also plays the "assistant card", pawning off angry customers to Stuart.http://retailcomic.com/comics/august-17-2010/ Marla and Cooper Costello are close friends, resulting in her looking the other way when it comes to his shenaniganshttp://retailcomic.com/comics/june-23-2007/, and occasionally indulging in them.http://retailcomic.com/comics/august-9-2006/ Despite their friendship, she knows to not schedule him on days when a district manager is known to be visitinghttp://retailcomic.com/comics/april-11-2006/ She first met Scott Garrison on a night she went out with Val, falling "in love at first sight".http://retailcomic.com/comics/february-10-2007/ She instantly was flustered with himhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/february-16-2007/, though he took it in stride and asked her out. The two dated for a few years, going on vacationshttp://retailcomic.com/comics/june-22-2009/ He proposed to her after a long gossip arc spreading throughout the entire store.http://retailcomic.com/comics/may-14-2010/. The two got married on June 26, 2011http://retailcomic.com/comics/june-26-2011/. Their honeymoon was in Bermudahttp://retailcomic.com/comics/june-3-2011/http://retailcomic.com/comics/july-10-2011/ and she was revealed to be pregnanthttp://retailcomic.com/comics/august-19-2011/ shortly after. Her daughter was born on April 9, 2012http://retailcomic.com/comics/april-9-2012/, and was named Fiona Jane Garrison. Marla took her time naming her child, debating http://retailcomic.com/comics/march-11-2012/ names and avoiding those used by coworkers and friends. She named her daughter after the little lost child at workhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/december-13-2010/ which caused her to want to have children. Marla experienced slight postpartum depressionhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/april-23-2012/, though it did eventually go awayhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/june-6-2012/. She was able to see Fiona's first steps http://retailcomic.com/comics/march-17-2013/. After Fiona's birth, Marla has been known to have body issues.http://retailcomic.com/comics/april-14-2013/ Trivia *She brings in donuts on Saturdays.http://retailcomic.com/comics/may-13-2006/ *Her previous jobs include working at Shoe Emporiumhttp://retailcomic.com/comics/march-8-2007/. *She enjoys the Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga.http://retailcomic.com/comics/september-1-2010/ *Her favorite show is "Wheel of Prizes",http://retailcomic.com/comics/april-30-2007/ and she also watches "Orange is the New Black".http://retailcomic.com/comics/november-14-2013/ *Marla hides a box of "good pens" in the store due to never being able to find any.http://retailcomic.com/comics/september-27-2010/ *She has apparently counted all the shirts she's refolded while working at Grumbel'shttp://retailcomic.com/comics/february-13-2009/. *She has spare letters of recommendations to give out to employees who ask for one, due to Grumbel's lack of hours.http://retailcomic.com/comics/february-20-2017/ References Category:Grumbel's employees